Page 101 of My Brother's Best Friends

“Oh, crap, it’s a copy of the settlement,” I whisper.

“Read the accusations. Her statement to the police,” Callie says, sitting with me while I skim through the printed text. “And there’s the Andersons’ statement… And the non-disclosure agreement.”

“My God, Callie…”

“Armed with this, I think your friends were right when they said Melanie was blackmailing them. And I don’t think they’re the only ones being scammed,” Callie replies, stone-faced. “I found this in her desk the last time I visited,” she adds, producing a crumpled bank statement from another pocket. “I confronted her with it, and she said they were ‘consulting fees.’ But that’s her personal bank account, not the firm’s account.”

“May I hold onto this?” I ask, tapping the paper in my lap.

“Of course,” Callie answers. “I’m not sure if I should go to the police, but I definitely wanted to come see you since you’re involved with some of the people she apparently victimized.” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “I think I owe the Andersons a huge apology…”

“Callie, I’m so sorry,” I say, realizing what a disaster this must be for her as a sister. I can’t imagine not being able to trust my own brother. Having the courage to say she’s sorry and present me with tangible evidence of Melanie’s guilt must be incredibly difficult.

I pull Callie into a hug just as Bryan and Janet return with the suitcases. Bryan sets his down in the middle of the living room, giving both of us a tired smile.

“I guess she told you,” he says.

“She did,” I confirm. “I’m not sure what to do now.”

“I think we both need to talk to the guys,” Bryan suggests. “But I’ll let you go first if you like.”

I look up at him with more emotion than I’ve felt in a long time, realizing that my happiness here at the vineyard has only been half-baked. I still walk around with the ghosts of the men that I once considered spending the rest of my days with.

My gaze wanders back to Janet. She has made the past month a lot more bearable. Whatever happens next, whatever decision is made, I owe her so much… and I want her by my side.

“What happened?” Janet asks, setting Callie’s things down.

I draw a shaky breath. “Callie has proof that her sister was lying. And that means the Anderson triplets didn’t do anything wrong. They were telling the truth all along, and I just ghosted them.”

“You didn’t know,” Janet reassures me.

“They tried to explain… I wouldn’t listen.”

Callie shakes her head. “None of us listened, Makayla. We were too focused on being outraged on Melanie’s behalf…”

“I have to go see them,” I say, rising to my feet. It’s late in the day, but I don’t want to waste any more time. I’m aching to see them again and mend the fences between us. “I know this is short notice, but I don’t think it’s something I can do over the phone.”

“Of course,” Janet replies. “I can manage things until you get back.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until morning?” Bryan asks. “It’s late, and by the time you get to the airport, I doubt you’ll find any available overnight flights. We can schedule one as early as you want, and I’ll drive you over to the airport myself.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I assure him. “That drive will take at least three hours.”

“It’s fine,” Callie interjects. “I would really feel better if you let us drive. Besides, we need to talk to the Anderson brothers, as well… We’re in this together.”

“Okay,” I say gratefully. “We’ll go in the morning and you can drive.”

My heart pounds a mile a minute as I scroll through my phone. All the calls I deliberately missed from Kellan, Alex, and Oscar. All the text messages I ignored. All the times I could’ve just taken a deep breath, I could’ve just sat down and listened to what they had to say.

Callie was clear-headed enough to question Melanie. I took her at face value, despite my own doubts about the triplets’ ability to commit such heinous acts. I feel downright awful.

Janet senses my slow slide into self-blame. “All right, let’s pop open one of those bottles. Do you guys want to come into the kitchen and pick one out? We have a few.”

Callie agrees and joins Janet, while Bryan sits down on the couch beside me and takes my hand in his. I suddenly realize that he’s put his entire life on pause to deal with my crisis. He’s come allthis way to give me the news in person, and I don’t even know whether he managed to propose or not.

“How are you and Callie doing?” I ask. “I know you didn’t get to propose back in Sweden, but are you still thinking about marriage?”

“Yes,” he says emphatically. “I still have the ring and everything, I’m just looking for a good way to pop the question. I want it to be memorable and unfortunately, I can’t think of anything more romantic than a holiday in wine country.”

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